Matthew 5:21-26 (The Sermon on the Mount, Part IV)
Murder
Jesus now demonstrates how “observing” the law is not fulfilling it, because of the attitude of the heart. His first example is murder. (v21) He points out that if you have even hate in your heart for someone, then you are just as guilty as the murder. It is not the action but the attitude of the heart that is judged. (v22) In verse 23 and 24 addresses that if you have contention and animosity between yourself and a brother (or sister) then you need to make amends before coming to the Lord in worship. The Lord wants your whole heart in worship and to come before him while you are out of favor with a brother, is not giving him what he is due. You need to make things right, and be a sower of peace. The only thing that I will assume from this verse is that the person is a Christian brother (or sister) and not just anyone. Christ further advocates settling civil disputes before finally taken to authorities where the punishment and reparations might be steeper than a humble settlement to a brother (v 25 and 26).
Christ shows us that hate is just as powerful as murder and that to make amends with a brother who has been wronged is not only important to our worship but to also ease the burden of our recompense.
posted by Ayric Andy | 10:36 AM
3 Comments:
Why do you assume that a Christian need only make amends with other Christians before coming to the Lord in worship? Is your heart any less distracted if you are out of favor with a non-Christian?
He tells you to love, but your heart is too stubborn to carry out this simple commandment. So you make up words and put them into his mouth, so you only have to love those whom it is easiest to love. What kind of sacrifice is that, in exchange for someone dying to bring you eternal life?
Excellent comments...and a clarification on my part. I will admit, I put the part on assuming this only means Christians to see the reaction. While the passage does say "brother" which I tend to think of as Christians, I do believe that the spirit (since the sermon on the mount does deal with what you feel in your heart, not just actions) of the matter is all people. At least that is the way I strive to behave. I would also agree with Neonknight, it is harder to love a Christian brother by far... because the bar is far higher for them, than others. You can love someone and their faults if they don't know what they are doing. But if someone keeps blantanly breaking promises to hang out with friends instead of their girlfriend for one night a week... it's much much harder.
Anonymous, you are right, we ought to at least try to make ammends with Christians and non-Christians alike. Just as we are commanded to love one another we are also commanded to forgive one another up to 70 x 7. This figurative number means that we ought to continue to forgive one another just as Christ has forgive us. Let's face it, we offend our God grievously everyday. We do not deserve his forgiveness, yet he offers it to us for Christ's sake who died for the very purpose of our forgiveness.
All our actions, whether it is love or it is forgiveness or murder or adultery or slander or any other sin a person may contrive, comes from the heart. This is no less true for worshipping our God. We will never know what it means to worship our God with an absolutely pure heart until we reach heaven. We are always to strive for perfection and purity. Out of thankfulness to God for his great gift of salvation, we return that stolen roll of tape. When our conscience siezes us, we must act. We must recognize our error and then rectify the situation. This is our spiritual act of worship. Then we recognize that although we are by ourselves unworthy to approach the throne of God either in prayer or praise in his house, we are made worthy by the sinless Son of God.
I know that it is much harder to love our fellow Christians. I think, and forgive me if I am wrong, I think that we tend to hurt those closest to us. We are harsh judges. We want to hold people accountable for those sins which seem to annoy us most. I get annoyed by people who do not keep their word. I really become agitated by those who ought to know better because they are Christians. Christians ought to know that they should not make a promise that they might not keep.
I do believe also that Christ was not only talking to his fellow disciples and followers in these passages, but to the chief priests and pharisees who felt that they were in God's good graces because of their lineage to Abraham and their adherance to the law. Upon examining their own hearts, they must have realized that they had hated at one time or another. They hated Christ. This hatred did lead to murder. Christ was warning them. He was giving them an out to their incideous plan.
Of course, it is not easy to love one another when you do not understand how love works. When you only rely on the feelings that love may produce you forget that true love surpasses the superficiality of feelings and works itself into action. How had these spiritual leaders shown love and mercy on those sheep they led? They added more rules to follow. What did they do to those who infringed those rules? They ostracized them. Christ broke their rules when he allowed his discipes to gather food on the Sabbaoth. The Lord of the Sabbaoth had told us that the law of mercy and love far supercede the laws laid on us by the governing body over us.
The question remains though: can you come before the Lord when you have not settled a dispute with your brother? Yes, you can, but our hearts, which are already so easily distracted, will further turn away from Christ.
If the matter is one that resoluation may not be possible after an attempt, you ought to bring the matter back to the person with a witness or two. If the person still refuses to either acknowledge wrongdoing or refuses to offer forgiveness, you have done all that you can do. Each step ought to have the communications lines open with the Holy Spirit to guide you in your ways.
When you follow these guidelines all the while keeping Christ firmly as the cornerstone in your life, you will remain above reproach and your conscience will be clear to worship our Lord and Savior. After all, isn't our life to be one act of worship instead of once every 7 days?
Miss Kirsten, "the woman who can't keep her handle and password memorized to save her life."
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